Honey, I shrunk the SLR!

Tiny insect eye camera could go all Inner Space on us

Ever thought about swallowing a camera and seeing the full digestion process from beginning to end?

It might soon be possible thanks to a team of researchers at the University of Illinois who have managed to create a camera so small, it could rest on your finger-tip.

The digital camera measures in at a minimal 1cm wide and has 180 microlenses, which is roughly what fire ants or bark beetles have in their compound eyes.

The curved design means that the camera will be able to offer two huge advantages over that of ordinary cameras. Firstly, the shape of the lens means that the camera can capture extremely wide-angle fields of view. Secondly, the multitude of tiny lenses has an almost infinite depth of field, which keeps objects in focus regardless of their distance from the camera.

Researchers predict that the device will be used on miniature flying drones to get a better view of a battlefield or as a device to inspect people's innards. Perverts are reportedly happy that they'll be able to replace their old mirror-on-shoe trick for something more sophisticated.